Re: [edlug] Doze free netbook

[A Smith <asmith9983@xxx.xxx.xxx>]

Hi
I've think you've hit on one of the fallacies of open source. All the code which  handles networking is available for you to read, which  would allow you to write your own debug code to figure  out where the bug is. Unfortunately  there are numerous software layers above the basic hardware  which you first need to understand before decoding how  the driver works works. I have put forward the view many times over my 30 years experience of systems development, that its the lack of documentation explaining how a piece of code is meant to work that is the most important factor. Reading the code simply tells you what its doing, not whether its doing it correctly or not.   If the statement "Ubuntu is too complex" is true, then the same must be true of all Linux distributions.  I switched to Ubuntu  and was immediately impressed by the frequency of package updates. I updated to 9.10  when it was wet all day last Sunday after the sound on my 8.10 went AWOL. I knew it wasn't a hardware problem because Knoppix ran OK.  I still have obtrusive clicks and thumps, but accept they are probably connected to the switch to PulseAudio from OSS and ALSA, and will be fixed eventually.
Tomorrow id EdLug evening, so that in the past has at the Holyrood been a good discussion ground for solving the stated problems.   Dominic in particular who unfortunately can't commute from Germany  helped me a lot with Xorg probs.   If he's listening he might want to come to the Christmas dinner. I've got a spare room.

--
Andrew

2009/11/4 David McKelvie <david@xxx.xxx.xxx>

>> I Have the feeling that ubuntu is getting too complex.

This just echoes my own feeling at the moment as I struggle with an
intermittant network bug where I can only reconnect with a reboot.

Its a known and apparently long standing problem, with lots of
attempted solutions on the net, inconclusive discussion on kerneltrap,
a long bug list in Launchpad, but no answer.

Maybe there are just too many different bits of hardware about to give
all of them adequate testing

--
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